Dr.William
C Bushell ,PhD,made a brief research
trip (January-February 2001) to the
Kumbha Mela Festival in Allahabad, India,
the purpose of which was to initiate
a larger, on-going research program
on yoga. Here is an extract of his observations
on the bhugarbha (underground) samadhi
practice that he witnessed.

The
spectacle of the underground (bhugarbha) samadhi that
I was privileged to witness at the Kumbha Mela camp
of Mahayogi Pilot Baba was truly impressive. Performed
by his student, Yog Mata Keiko Aikawa, a Japanese woman,
the yogini was buried in an underground pit for 72 hours.
She emerged on the afternoon of January 23rd in apparently
excellent condition after having entered the pit, which
was covered over with earth, on the afternoon of January
20th. The full scientific understanding of this phenomenon
awaits an appropriate investigation, which has in fact
been scheduled for the spring of this year at the Columbia-Cornell
Medical Center. The practice has been observed and written
about for centuries by Indians and Westerners, including
physicians (eg, Honigberger 1852). An appropriate scientific
consideration of the practice must take into account
the following: the practice has been done in the past
under false pretenses, ie, in some cases a secret tunnel
was dug which allowed the performer to escape the underground
enclosure. Instances of such deception have been recorded
(see Tripathi 1978: 123-4; Siegel 1991: 170f). In addition,
the underground enclosure can be constructed so that,
in actuality, no special respiratory, metabolic, or
other putative yogic abilities are necessary, other
than the ability to tolerate the tedium and physical
discomfort imposed by the demonstration (although this
may not be designed with the intent to deceive). In
such a case, the dimensions of the pit, in conjunction
with air seepage through the soil, allows for enough
oxygen to make survival possible without such reputed
yogic abilities.

However,
these considerations do not fully explain the
bhugarbha samadhi practice, as several previous
preliminary clinical investigations, including
by members of our own research team, have shown
that dramatic voluntary control over respiration
and metabolism may in fact be involved. In these
several studies, the yogis agreed to perform the
samadhi under controlled conditions while being
monitored physiologically (Anand, Chhina, & Singh
1961; Heller, Elsner, and Rao 1987; and see also
Benson et al 1990, who studied a similar practice
in Tibetan yogis). In these several cases, the
yogis demonstrated an unprecedented voluntarily-induced
state of profound hypometabolism, ranging from
40-64% below resting baseline. Such states are
generally only encountered in profoundly hypothermic
individuals close to death. .

In
these several cases, the
yogis demonstrated an unprecedented
voluntarily-induced state
of profound hypometabolism,
ranging from 40-64% below
resting baseline. Such states
are generally only encountered
in profoundly hypothermic
individuals close to death.

Furthermore,
Mahayogi Pilot Baba has purportedly demonstrated the
more extreme variation of this practice, the underwater
or jala samadhi, for four days (see for example, CNN
World News, November 5, 1992). If such a feat proves
to be possible under controlled conditions - as is soon
to be tested - this indeed would constitute a revolution
in Western physiological science. Such a feat would
require, among a number of critical adaptations, the
survival of extended respiratory suspension and circulatory
arrest. Although human survival of circulatory arrest
for briefer durations has been conclusively documented
- in, for example, cases of medically induced hypothermia
for surgery and cold-water near-drownings - the voluntary
induction and survival of such a phenomenon is scientifically
unprecedented. (See Bushell, in preparation, for comprehensive
review of this data and discussion of allegedly demonstrated
heart-stopping by yoga practitioners. On the genetic
relevance of hibernation for primates, including humans,
see Andrews et al 1998, Srere et al 1992).

Note:
This is an extract from a reprt of a Field Trip made
by Dr. Bushell which was sponsored by the Infinity Foundation.